22oz bomber share courtesy of dcschiller. It pours with a murky amber body that has some golden hues and supports a tan head of foam. The aroma offers up big musty malt sticky pine hops, a sliver of grapefruit and then some molasses. The taste has a nice mix of resiny pine hop heavy bitterness and then streams of molasses to midway. Malts bubble forward for a moment before the resiny pine hop bitterness and a sliver of sweetened citrus hops take over and bring this to a rich rewarding finish. Solid bold American style Barleywine.

Bottle from Whole Foods Westlake, Seattle; vintage 2012, bottle 03368/12000Brown color with dark amber hue, small head. The aroma of dark caramel and components of hop sweat and hop resins immediately brings back to older times (Old Foghorn).Full bodied but not heavy, with round mouthfeel, and moderate sweetness; the dark caramel flavor dominates the opening, with accents of biscuits and dark bread; then the bitterness appears, with its load of dark hop resins, and reminiscent of Italian digestive liquors (Cynar, Rabarbaro Zucca). The stickiness on the lips, in the end, is also a good sign.Old (American) school; I will get back to this one again.

A - Pours a cloudy amber-orange color with a finger of frothy off-white head. The head fades down at a normal pace leaving behind some nice lacing.
S - Aroma is a mix of sweet caramel malts with some brown sugar, grapefruit and pine hops, and some booze.
T - Starts off with some sweet caramel malts and caramelized sugars with some brown sugar, a touch of dark fruit, and some grapefruit and citrus hops and bitterness. Through the middle, some pine hops come through with some more resiny bitterness with some more caramelized malts. The finish is a mix of sweet caramel malts, caramelized sugars, grapefruit and pine hops, some bitterness, and some booze.
M - Full bodied with moderate carbonation. Feels smooth with a sweet, bitter, and warming finish.
D - Very drinkable. Nice big bold barleywine with a surprisingly high level of smoothness and drinkability.

Bottle #2883/5000 with Carla. Pours a hazy grapefruit red/brown with bleach white foam. Smells quintessentially like a barley wine with lots of sweetness, hints of bitterness mingling with a touch of alcohol. Tastes of caramel, grapefruit, pine and ends with a bit of tart pineapple.

Bottle #4086 out of 6200, 2011 Vintage, shared at game night with TvM and heavyleavy. I hope this was worth 3 years of cellaring...Pours a deep amber-orange, very hazy, with a soft golden head. Beautiful chewy toffee malts with a marmalade sweetness and a warm, mildly bitter finish. Tawny port traits in here, sticky big body, velvety mouthfeel. Loved it, definitely worth the wait!

Draft, Hard Liver, í08 vintage. Dark amber pour with a white head, left sudsy lacing on the glass. Aroma is on the hoppy end of barley wine, with some caramel backing up classic Northwest citrus, grapefruit, and pine notes. This drinks like a big caramelly IIPA, and has a hop profile thatís pretty characteristic of Ninkasiís beers. Nice lingering pine resin bitterness and loads of citrus and grassy hops. Curious as to how this tastes fresh. Pretty darn tasty.

22-ounce bottle. Impressive-looking beer: Murky brown with a thick head and lingering, foamy lace. Full bodied with a lively carbonation. Boldly flavored with very rich elements of toffee, toasted bread, chocolate and nuts. Also has nips of burnt bread crust. Hops are just as strong, fortunately, with assertive notes of pine, citrus and grass. Bitterness has grapefruit flavors and flower aromas. Throat-warming alcohol is fitting. Curiously dry finish, probably from the snappy bitterness and the scrubbing carbonation. Some acidity is noticeable here and there. Overall, itís a solid barley wine with plenty heft.

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